The invention relates to character input interfaces, and more particularly to cursor-based character input interfaces for electronic devices.
Hardware character input interfaces, such as keyboards, are typically designed to enable users to move quickly between input selections. Accordingly, it is not uncommon for a user of a physical keyboard to be able to type at 100+ words per minute.
A software-based (i.e. virtual) keyboard, on the other hand, may hamper the speed at which a user can move between input selections due to the selection method and/or physical input device(s) employed. For example, where the physical input device used to make input selections is a game controller, TV remote, or other device that has no inbuilt keyboard, a cursor is typically employed to make individual selections. Such an input interface which employs a cursor to make individual selections may be referred to as a cursor-based character input interface. The requirement to move a cursor in order to make individual selections greatly reduces the speed at which multiple input selections can be made. Accordingly, being able to type at anything higher than 5 words per minute is uncommon on such software-based (i.e. virtual) keyboards.
By way of example, if one considers typing the word “Hello” on a software-based QWERTY keyboard that uses a cursor to select individual characters in order (and with the cursor initially positioned on the letter “A”) a user must press Right, Right, Right, Right, Right, Select, Left, Left, Left, Up, Select, Right, Right, Right, Right, Right, Right, Down, Select, Select, Up, Select. This represents a total of twenty-two (22) input commands.